Speakers

Kiah Clingman finds purpose in uplifting the voices of the unheard and bringing awareness to ignored and misunderstood topics. Born in Cincinnati and adopted by Atlanta in 2016, Kiah is a passionate advocate for telling stories about her second home and making sure her crew and talent on screen reflects the city.

She is the lead producer of the feature film Color Book (2024), created through the Tribeca-AT&T Untold Stories Program, where she and her team were awarded a $1 million grant. The Variety's Critic Pick film world-premiered at the Tribeca Festival, and won the Critics Jury Prize at the Deauville International Film Festival, as well as Best Narrative Feature at the Austin Film Festival and Best American Feature at the Denver Film Festival. It was also nominated for two NAACP Image Awards including Outstanding Breakthrough Creative. 

Kiah is a proud alumna of the Southern Producers Lab. She's a 2024 recipient of the Arts & Entertainment Atlanta Grant, the City of Atlanta Creative Industries Grant, and the Women of Color Narrative Initiative for her solo directorial debut, Her Pretty Vagina (2025), a personal exploration of endometriosis, HPV, and the complexities of women’s health. The film recently won the Shore Scripts Finishing Funds Prize and is part of the rePRO Films x Peace is Loud Collective Lens Lab.

Growing up in Italy, Valentina found beauty in the simple moments of everyday life. From waking up to the aroma of freshly brewed Neapolitan espresso to strolling through historic streets, indulging in a warm Nutella croissant, and admiring timeless sculptures while the hum of Italian chatter filled the air—her surroundings felt like a living work of art. Immersed in the rich charm of her homeland, she often felt as if she were living inside a story, or perhaps, a film. With an old digital Canon camera in hand, she discovered her love for capturing raw, fleeting moments—glimpses of pure existence.
 

“It all begins with an idea.”

In 2013, the dream of owning a production company and making a living through filmmaking was just that—an idea. Countless hours of brainstorming, research, and dedication led to the launch of VTL Productions in 2014, marking the official start of Valentina’s film career.
 

Since then, she has had the opportunity to work as the Director of Photography (DP) or Camera Operator for major companies, including Rolling Stone, Delta, CDC, WebMD, and more.
 

Beyond the commercial world, Valentina has a passion for indie filmmaking. In 2024, she won Best Cinematography for Unicorn Training at the Georgia Shorts Film Festival and currently has another short film in post-production. She also has started writing scripts of her own in hopes to produce her own film within the next year.
 

Her next adventure? Steadicam operating. After completing the Steadicam Operators Association Workshop in LA, she is now an official member of the Steadicam Ops Association and ready to take her craft to the next level.
 

Lara Aqel is a DP and director whose work merges cinematic visuals with human-centered stories. She creates visual worlds grounded in emotion and a sense of place. Above all, Lara brings an observational eye to her storytelling, imbuing it with a quiet elegance. 

An Arab-American filmmaker, Lara was born in Jordan and immigrated to the US before studying film internationally in the Czech Republic and Australia. She made a name for herself in New York, creating award-winning work which includes a Cannes Bronze Lion for the branded Facebook video “Black Makes a Way,” a Best Short Film award for “Pozole” at the Oscar-qualifying Cinequest, and CMT’s Female Video of The Year for Lainey Wilson’s “Heart Like A Truck” music video. Her diverse portfolio of work includes clients like HBO, Paramount, Google, Teen Vogue, and Olay.

Lara now resides in Atlanta with her husband and son, and has become one of the most sought-after collaborators in the Southeast. She loves the diverse community of artists in the south and is drawn to projects where she can find and photograph moments that feel human.

Shayla Racquel is an energetic, quintessential creative with a passion for storytelling birthed and honed by her southern roots. She is no stranger to overcoming odds - diagnosed with Sickle Cell Disease at birth and a stroke at the mere age of 12, her battle with this illness brought her closer to the art of storytelling, which unlocked her love for filmmaking. 
 

Though Shayla considers herself genre-agnostic, as a director, Shayla gravitates towards genre-bending projects where she can offer comedic elements to stories with subtle yet significant messaging, real dramatic stakes, and heightened tension. She creates and gravitates toward stories featuring chaotic female characters with multifarious identities navigating a world where they are forced to choose just one. 

Shayla Racquel bleeds Orange & Green, holding a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from the illustrious Florida A&M University. In 2018, she received her Master of Fine Arts in Film & Electronic Media from American University. Her felicific smile and appreciation for life brighten any room – you will always know it's her when she greets you with, “Smiles are Sunshine for the Soul!”

Graciela Cain, professionally known as GeeXella (pronounced Jee-EL-LUH), is a transdisciplinary artist currently occupying space in Muscogee Creek Land, also known as Atlanta, GA. A skilled curator with a multicultural approach when it comes to setting a vibe on the dance floor. They have become sought after thanks to their soulful DJ sets that blur the lines between house, techno, soca, and baile funk. This, along with GeeXella’s unwavering commitment to building safer club spaces, GeeXella has opened for Channel Tres and Tokischa. They also have been DJ support for Cakes da Killa, Reyna Tropical , Linqua Franca and among others.

In 2018, after acknowledging a lack of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC oriented dance spaces in the American south, GeeXella started the dance party ‘Duval Folx’ in Jacksonville, Florida. Since its inception, the residency has helped bridge a gap between intersectional advocacy and the “PLUR” code of ethics present within the greater dance music community. This, combined with their unique talents as a producer, has led to involvement with organizations such as the Black Girls Code, Femme House GSA Network, and Duval County Public Schools to name a few. GeeXella has been a mainstay in the queer party scene, performing at festivals including SXSW, Winterland, and Inverse Performance Art Festival. They have also regularly been featured as a co-host on Femme House Radio via SiriusXM, often times providing valuable insight to interviews due to their background as an activist , musician and scholar. A leader in every sense of the word with no signs of slowing down, GeeXella continues to be a force of nature in clubs – and a voice for marginalized communities

Airo Abebe is a multidisciplinary artist from Stone Mountain. They have been practicing yoga for almost a decade alongside their pursuit of self-studied calisthenics. One of their many passions being wellness, pushes me to continue learning and practicing new skills. They strive to cultivate oneness with myself and help others do the same with everything they share.

Adesola Thomas is an Atlanta-raised, queer Nigerian-American writer-director and 1st AD. She makes films about Southern subcultures and the Black diaspora to examine care and interdependence as essential practices for a livable world.

Adesola's work has screened at Diversity at Cannes in France, Deeper Than Movies in London, Millennium Film and No Budge in Brooklyn, Artists Forum, Cinema Souterrain, and Southern Fried Queer Pride's Cinequeer in Atlanta. She is a 2024: Georgia Film Impact Grant Winner, Bleecker Street BIPOC Mentorship Fellow, 2x Sundance Press Inclusion Fellow, and Resisting Narratives of Erasure Directing Fellow at the Visionary Justice Lab in Atlanta where she recently completed her dramatic magical realist short, Sister Salad Days.

Her forthcoming punk rave film, Marigold Leaves Her Body won the Best Narrative Short Script Award at Atlanta's 2024 Out on Film Festival and was a finalist for the South Pitch Narrative competition at the 2024 New Orleans Film Festival. Adesola is an East Coast Reporter for Letterboxd (LB), where she writes for their film journal, Journal. She enjoys 1st AD’ing music videos, dancing at parties, and swimming with friends.

Gene Gregg, Sarah Kelley, Deena Ramadan, Kim Ruiz, and Anna Winter are a group of passionate filmmakers and artists who met as MFA students in Georgia State University’s Film Program. Through intentional conversation and curiosity, their organic approach to experimentation materializes into exciting and non-traditional forms of filmmaking. Their short film, Rat Tail, was conceived collaboratively. It was awarded the audience choice award at the 2025 Kodak 100' Feet of Film Screening in Atlanta, GA and will screen at this year’s Atlanta Film Festival.

Kristina Cohen is an Atlanta native who ventured to Los Angeles in 2007 to pursue acting. Her career has been filled with diverse experiences, including working on various independent films and television shows such as Californication, Greek, and The Middle.
 
At the age of 21, Kristina discovered her passion for stand-up comedy and began hosting comedy shows. She performed her biggest show at the Improv Ontario, where she found a love for sharing her truth and bringing joy to audiences through her unique brand of humor. Her love for comedy also led her to join the all-female improv troupe, 'Ladies Like Tea,' where she played on esteemed stages such as UCB, Second City, I.O. West, and various other comedy venues. 
 
Her passion for writing soon followed, leading her to produce and act in the digital short series, 'Ladies Like Us'. After just five episodes, it was picked up by SlapTV. 

Kristina has returned to her roots in Atlanta, where she is currently working on her latest feature script, "Earthwalkers." Her mission is to create impactful and meaningful art that deeply resonates with audiences from all walks of life.
 

Gabrielle "Gaby" Loren is a Quechua-American artist living in Atlanta GA who is fueled by a relentless curiosity and a passion for humans and their emotions. Her artistic journey has spanned a multitude of mediums, driven by a deep-seated desire for self-discovery and understanding. Through her art, she embarks on a journey of exploration, using creativity as a means of communication to express the intricacies of her inner world, often difficult to articulate through words alone.

Wasan Hayajneh is a 2D animator, story artist and compositor with an MFA in Animation from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She graduated with a double BA in New Media and Illustration from Eastern Connecticut State University in 2020, where she dabbled in VR game development and webcomics.

ELECTRA WASP (2023) is her directorial debut, with which she earned her mastery in the field of Animation. She likes to think of animated storytelling as a kind of puzzle with endless possibilities, and that tying everything together is the best part.

Wasan has two cats and is based in Atlanta, GA, where she teaches animation at Kennesaw State University.

Tasj-Mari Myers is a creative director, filmmaker and founder of Purple Fish Studios, crafting rich stories that explore culture, identity, and human connection. She blends authenticity with artistry, telling relatable stories through abstract lenses.

Alvin McBean grew up between Jamaica and Lauderhill, FL, a.k.a. LittleCaribs. As a curious kid, he has never lost his sense of wonder. The desire to understand his surroundings created keenly observant eyes that filed everything for memory and further dissection. A budding fascination with cameras naturally developed and bloomed into a full-on study of light, lens, and image-making at Florida A&M University, where he studied graphic communications with an emphasis on the photographic arts.

Acknowledging the power of a single photo has made Alvin a revenant image-maker, whether crafting stills or motion pictures. His visual work has been awarded at festivals like SXSW, Blackstar, Atlanta Film Festival and streamed on networks like Netflix, Hulu, and PBS. Always seeking light, approaching every project delicately and with conviction.

In the business sector, Alvin is the proud owner of Dogon Lighting & Grip, a rental house that caters to the creative community in and around Atlanta. In a short time, he has earned a nationwide reputation as a trusted service provider, garnering support from filmmakers nationwide. The company boasts client work for renowned brands such as Target, Nike, Publix, Lexus, Always, Comcast, and Goldman Sachs. However, his focus extends beyond business success. He is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of talent, providing young filmmakers with a pipeline into the industry through the Grip and Electric departments. Whether leading workshops or collaborating with local organizations, Alvin is committed to empowering others and building a more inclusive industry.

Ruth Zapico is a creative director and gaffer whose Spanish origins play a vital role in shaping her cinematic style. As the owner of Zapico Studios, she brings a distinctive visual language to her work, blending rich storytelling with striking lighting techniques. Her approach is deeply influenced by her cultural heritage, allowing her to craft evocative and immersive narratives that resonate on both an artistic and emotional level. Through Zapico Studios, she continues to push creative boundaries, collaborating with artists and brands to bring bold, visually compelling stories to life.

Kenya “K Cams” Campbell is an Atlanta-based filmmaker specializing in camera and lighting, with a passion for directing and producing. Kenya has always been fascinated with production and began her film journey early on as a child actor.  Over the years, Kenya has honed her skills behind the scenes which has earned her opportunities to work on projects with Disney, Netflix as well as brands like Coca-Cola. Kenya is widely sought after for her talent, creative eye and insight. She has already worked with top directors and producers—and she’s just getting started.

Based in ATL, Peyton Leopold is a filmmaker with a strong passion for female-led narratives. She's found her niche in grip and electric work as well as set decoration! She hopes to help Atlanta's indie film community to grow and prosper to get our stories heard!

Bridget LaMonica is an Atlanta based camera operator and Steadicam operator. She has worked on independent features, docu-series and unscripted content. She has utilized numerous camera tools, such as the Easyrig, Dana Dolly but most importantly the Steadicam.

As a Steadicam operator, Bridget is one of a small group of women operators in the nation. Though Steadicam is becoming more commonly used by women, it’s still a highly specialized and body intensive skill that can be intimidating to newer operators.

As a camera operator, Bridget has found that collaborating with DPs and directors to find the nuances to tell their story is highly rewarding. Bridget enjoys working on scripts that challenge the viewer and provide a unique take on a story.

Bridget is also highly focused on the community in Atlanta, taking part in organizing the Atlanta Film Yard Sale with Erin Zellers and Tina Somphone, as well as teaching workshops to help share knowledge.

Bridget received her MFA in Film and Television from SCAD Savannah. She is a member of the Steadicam Operator’s Association and Local 600.

Amber Bournett-McClain is an award-winning cinematographer, director, and camera operator based in Atlanta. She studied fine art and film at Georgia State University before co-founding the independent production company House of June. 

As an independent filmmaker, Bournett has shot and co-directed several award-winning short narratives, with screenings at national and international festivals. Her ATL Airport Shorts triptych, LEVITATE, LEVITATE, LEVITATE, was selected for Cannes Shorts through the THEA program. She has contributed additional photography to feature films, documentaries, and series and was a 2019 participant in the AFI Female Cinematographer Intensive.

Simran Modhera is a Local 600 2nd AC. She was born and raised in South Plainfield, New Jersey, where she very eagerly discovered her passion for camera technology in elementary school. She graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design (go bees!) in 2022 and has since moved to Atlanta, Georgia. She has been very lucky to be an assistant camera on very memorable shoots, her specialty being live shows like NYFW broadcasts and getting to camera operate for NBCU Superbowl LVII. In her free time she is constantly active, working to beat her reading goal for the year (26 books!) and competing in local Triathlons and Marathons. 

Mya-Breyana Morton is an award-winning writer, director, and cinematographer amplifying marginalized voices through film. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree with an MFA from SCAD, her work includes Because, I Love You, What Remains of Emily, Proud, and The Traveler (PBS). She’s developing Breathe with Visionary Justice Story Lab and has collaborated with Canva, Target, iHeartMedia, and Economist Impact.

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A passionate mentor, she has spoken at Georgia State University and led workshops at the University of Georgia and Canva. Morton is the co-founder of The Production Circle and founder of Unconscious Media, using film to foster inclusivity and push creative boundaries.

Erin Zellers is an Atlanta freelance cinematographer and IATSE Local 600 Digital Utility. She grew up in Colorado, falling in love with cameras initially through photography. This led to the decision for her to attend art school, starting at Ringling College of Art and Design then transferring over to SCAD Savannah in her sophomore year. Erin graduated with a B.F.A in Film and Television with a minor in Performing Arts. She took almost.all of the camera and lighting classes at SCAD and realized her true passion for cinematography. To this day, she works as a DP on short films and music videos as well as being a Digital Utility on union productions.